The Newcastle Knights sit at a crossroads.
There is no other way to describe it. Last year's semi-finalists, who ran into the finals on the back of an unprecedented winning streak, will be out to cause similar mayhem from a better position this campaign despite their mixed - and that's being polite - form over the first 13 games played.
Simply put, if they want to have a repeat of last year's results, or even an improvement beyond the semi-finals, they will need to be built different.
Last year, you have to remember the Knights were more likely to receive the wooden spoon than they were to play finals rugby league at one point.
The run Adam O'Brien's side went on was special, a run that has been rarely seen in NRL history. It all came to an end on semi-final weekend against a rampant New Zealand Warriors side in Auckland, but if you had of offered Knights' fans to play in that game at the mid-way point of the season they would have taken it.
Given their form over the first half of the 2024 campaign, you could almost bet most Knights fans would be biting your hand off for the same result this year.
But for that to happen, they are going to need to start winning consistently.
And its consistency, which has so far alluded to the Knights in 2024. Their season has been a real mish-mash of results: Lose two, win one, lose one, win one, lose two, win four and then lose two.
It's those last two losses, coming after a bye, which should carry the most concern for O'Brien. A 32-2 drubbing at the hands of the Canterbury Bulldogs while playing in the Hunter, then conceding 36 points at the hands of the Melbourne Storm in Round 14.
And yes, playing the Storm away from home is one of the game's toughest tasks, but this is a Storm side without Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cameron Munster, while Harry Grant was playing off just four days rest after Origin 1.
If you're going to be a team that can challenge at the pointy end of the season like the Knights would hope to be after their performances last year, then defending to a far higher standard in the two weeks following the bye is a must.
But it's not just defence, which has been a problem for the Knights.
There is little doubt that over the journey of this year to date, their halves - and the rotating door in them - has been a key part of the issue.
The signing of Jack Cogger in the pre-season looked good on paper, but it has actually created an unanswerable headache for O'Brien.
Cogger, Jackson Hastings and Tyson Gamble have all but failed to lock down positions in the six or seven, and while it looked as if Gamble was going to join Hastings over that winning run leading into their bye, the ex-Brisbane Bronco has since suffered a foot injury and has been sidelined.
In addition to Gamble's injury, the Knights have been forced to battle along without Kalyn Ponga, who has suffered a foot injury.
The former Queensland State of Origin star, who also missed a chunk of 2023 before returning from concussion, may not be back on the park until Round 22, so the Knights will need to find a way to be consistent without their fullback.
But there will also be the question - particularly if either Fletcher Sharpe or David Armstrong can lock down the number one jumper in the coming weeks - over which position Ponga actually returns in.
And yes, we have seen this before. Kalyn Ponga in the halves is an experiment doomed for failure based on previous attempts.
But there is little doubt Armstrong first, then Sharpe replacing him when injured, have both been excellent as the number one jumper for the Knights while replacing the injured Origin-level star.
And that - an Origin-level star - is something the Knights don't have in the halves despite the chopping, changing and mixed form at times of the three players - Hastings, Gamble and Cogger - who have been rotating through those roles this season.
It would be difficult to suggest at this stage that Ponga winding up in the halves again would be the best move for the Knights when he does return from his injury, but there is a real chance it becomes the obvious option over the next two months.
The Knights, as mentioned, are also without Gamble for the next couple of months - roughly the same timeline as Ponga. That will give Cogger and Hastings time to lock down the roles, but if it doesn't work, the Knights will probably find themselves in the midst of a race for finals spot.
That could well mean a risk is needed in the final weeks of the season, particularly if either Armstrong or Sharpe have impressed in the number one jumper.
Given their form replacing Ponga to date, it could well be the case for O'Brien that he weighs up the risk for the final month of the season and any finals matches to follow. Ponga's hands on the ball more in the number six in combination with Jackson Hastings in the seven - a combination the Knights originally signed Hastings for - could well be something the Knights go for.
One way or another, the Knights will need to be built different both to the first half of this year, and again to the way they played last year if they want to make the same push into the finals.
A big risk could be the way to go.
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